


What Happens When Henry Goes Out to Drink

by vivarium



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: Gen, Henry's 237th Birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2020-07-20 04:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19986208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivarium/pseuds/vivarium
Summary: Henry enlists Lucas' help to close a case. It doesn't go as planned.





	What Happens When Henry Goes Out to Drink

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ghost_Rider_of_the_Aragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_Rider_of_the_Aragon/gifts).



> Author's notes from the original post on Tumblr:  
> This is my gift for @ghostriderofthearagon! You requested a fic where Lucas finds out about Henry’s secret – it was my first time writing fic, so I hope you like it! :)  
> Also big shoutout to my beta @6192columbusstreet without whom I'd’ve never finished this in time!  
> Enjoy :)

Lucas was about to leave the OCME when he heard the door of Henry’s office open.

“Lucas, may I have a word with you?”

He turned to his boss, dreading to have forgotten to fill out some form; he was relieved when he saw that Henry was wearing his coat and his scarf, which meant that he was about to leave too – Lucas went as far as toying with the idea that Henry was finally going to get a drink with him.

“Of course, doc, do you need something? A graphic novel rec? The latest Soul Slasher is out, but if you’re not really into that there’s also –”

Henry stopped him with a gesture of the hand. “Thank you, Lucas, but this is not really what I’m looking for. I need your help for something quite… Peculiar. You have heard about the warehouse near which the body was found, haven’t you?”

Lucas gulped. “Oh, yeah, right…” He was not sure whether he should be flattered that Henry asked him for help, or worried to spend the night in jail for trespassing. Henry felt his hesitation and added quickly:

“Obviously, I would never ask you to do anything illegal. Let’s just say that there is a watchman in front of the building, and that if said watchman happened to be distracted for a few minutes tonight…”

“Detective Martinez would close her case much sooner.”

“Precisely,” said Henry, smiling. “Can I count on you?”

Lucas glanced through the window. “We still have a few hours ahead of us. Can I buy you a drink before we go?”

A drink and two bowls of peanuts later, the sun had set and Henry and Lucas went on their way. They reached the warehouse in little time; in front of the door, they could make out the sinister figure of a security guard, who was standing under a bleak bracket light.

“Stay here,” whispered Henry, “and count to a hundred before going to talk to him. I’m going to the other side of the building, and I’ll try to get in through the back door. I won’t need a lot of time; just distract him for fifteen minutes, and then you can leave.” He took a few steps towards the back of the warehouse, but then seemed to change his mind; he turned back to Lucas and added softly:

“Thank you, Lucas. You’re risking a lot to help me, and I am infinitely grateful for that.”

Lucas, surprised by his declaration, was about to say something; but Henry was gone already.

As he had been asked to, Lucas slowly counted to a hundred. He even gave Henry a few extra seconds to get to the other side, just to be safe, and finally walked towards the front door. Henry needed time to search the warehouse; Lucas had to divert the watchman’s attention for quite some time, so he hoped his interpretation of a lost tourist would be convincing enough.

“Good evening, señor,” said Lucas in a strong Spanish accent. “Would you happen to know where Times Square is?”

Intrigued, the watchman raised an eyebrow. That was a good start. “Times Square? Are you sure about that?”

“I’m trying to get back to my hotel. I wanted to avoid the tourist traps and walk through the city like a real New Yorker would, but I must have taken a wrong turn and I got lost. My phone’s dead and I couldn’t find a single cab around here. New York may be the capital of the world, but at the end of the day there’s clearly a lack of public transportation.”

The other man let out a laugh. “I doubt you’re going to live the full New York experience here, you’re in an industrial area.” He gestured towards the road west of the building. “If you really want a taxi, go this way; once you get to a main road you’re sure to find one sooner or later.”

This was not going the way Lucas had planned, at all. The watchman was way too helpful, and Lucas would have to walk back to the city or else he would arise suspicion. He had to gain (or in this case, lose) time.

“Ah, thank you so much, señor! One more thing, if you don’t mind. You sound like you’ve lived here forever; are there any nice sightseeing spots you could recommend me?”

The man was about to answer when they heard a crash, followed by a scream, coming from the inside of the building. Instantly, the watchman kicked down the door and ran inside, his gun in his hand.

“Oh no. Oh no. Henry, what mess did you get yourself into,” whispered Lucas. He hesitated for a second, and followed the security guard in the warehouse.

The room was full of ceiling-high metal shelves, on which were stored hundreds of cardboard boxes and crates. In the corner next to the door Lucas entered through, a forklift was parked. It was surrounded by empty wood pallets and tools scattered here and there on the floor. Suddenly, it struck Lucas that he was in an isolated building, without any weapon, running after an armed guy he had just lied to. He seized a crowbar that was lying on the ground; more at ease, he held tight his makeshift weapon and took a few steps. Henry was probably in the back of the building…

A second scream, that was definitely coming from the western part of the building. Within a few seconds, Lucas was there; but when he realized what was happening, he froze. Henry had his back turned to a shelf, his hands up in the air, and was being held at gunpoint by the watchman. He was holding a small, black metal box in his hand.

“Drop it right now,” said the guard, “or I’ll shoot. I won’t say it again.”

Henry’s eyes were going back and forth between the small box and the watchman, as if he were weighing the pros and cons. Neither of the two men had realized Lucas was there.

“Sir, I work with the NYPD. If you let me go, I can assure you that no one is going to come after you.”

“Drop the box.”

Henry sighed and let his hands down. “Alright, but first…” And he scampered to the exit.

The gun went off. Henry, struck in the chest, collapsed.

Without thinking, Lucas raised the crowbar above his head, and with all the strength he could gather he hit the watchman, who fell down too. Lucas threw away his weapon and ran to Henry. A small puddle of blood had already started to form around him. Lucas kneeled in front of him and put his ear near Henry’s mouth: he was still breathing, but barely.

“Henry? Henry, can you hear me?”

Henry’s eyes flickered; when he recognized Lucas, a flash of panic passed through his eyes. He tried to speak. “Go… Now…”

“Don’t try to talk,” said Lucas, “I’m going to call 911. Stay calm, everything’s gonna be alright. I’m with you. You’re gonna make it, doc.”

Lucas wanted to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Henry was way too weak. He was getting paler by the minute and he breathed erratically.

Suddenly Henry started to convulse. Panicked, Lucas reached for his phone in his jacket. There was no signal.

“Henry, stay still. I’m going to call for help and I’ll be right back, alright?” He ran out of the warehouse to make the call and came back as fast as he had left. Only, when he came back in, Henry had disappeared.

Lucas could have been in the wrong aisle, and Henry in another one. But that was not the case; the security guard was still lying there, a few steps away from where Henry should have been. Or maybe Henry had crawled away, thought Lucas. He went up and down every aisle; Henry was nowhere to be seen, so Lucas went back to the place Henry had fallen down. There, on the ground, he saw the little box Henry had tried to steal.

Thousands of thoughts went through Lucas’ mind at the same time. Where had Henry gone? How could he have left on his own, when a few minutes earlier he was on the brink of death? And if he had indeed left, why didn’t he take with him the black box he was ready to risk his life for? By the way, why had he put his life on the line for a mere case – did he not have any survival instinct?

Or maybe… Henry had been abducted. It was hard to believe, but also the only reasonable explanation. Which meant that right at this moment, Henry was probably taken away, and was already far from the warehouse; Lucas had been working with police detectives long enough to know that time was precious when a person was missing.

Lucas ruled out calling the police, as it was too risky: there was a good chance that Henry, freshly freed from his abductors, would be sent straight to jail for intrusion. Calling Jo was risky, too, because she worked on the case – involving her might cost her her career. Besides, if she discovered that Henry had broken into a building to gather evidence, she might shoot him herself.

Abe was the last solution. Chances were that he had no better idea than Lucas on how to get Henry out ouf this mess, but he knew the Frenchman, and Lucas had a feeling that she would know what to do.

Lucas picked up the precious little box and carefully put it in his jacket, and he wiped his prints off of the crowbar. Just to be safe, he checked up on the watchman; as he expected, the man was only stunned. The emergency services would take good care of him.

He went through the back door to go back outside and walked up the path Henry and him had taken less than an hour ago. It seemed that an eternity had passed since Henry had asked him to distract the security guard.

Half an hour later, Lucas was standing in front of Abe’s shop. All the lights were out, and there was no sign of activity. Lucas took out his phone and called the shop. No answer. He rang, called again and looked around the building to find emergency stairs, but there were none. Lucas was getting increasingly nervous, and he was about to call Jo when a car pulled up near the building and parked along the curb. Abe got out of the vehicule; then Lucas saw Henry get out too, dressed in loose clothes that looked nothing like his usual suits.

Stunned, Lucas blinked slowly. “Doc?”

Henry turned to him; he didn’t seem surprised to see him there. “Good evening, Lucas. I suppose you must have questions.” Lucas was speechless. The doctor was obviously in fine fettle, and far from bleeding to death.

Abe smirked and clapped his hands: “You’ll have a cup of tea, right?” He turned to his roommate. “The night is going to be long, isn’t it, Henry?”

“Yes, probably. Come in, Lucas. I can explain everything.”

Henry and Lucas sat upstairs, each of them on a side of a coffee table. Henry cleared his throat.

“Forgive me for starting there, but… Do you have the box?”

Without a word, Lucas took it out of his jacket and put it on the table. Henry’s face lit up instantly. “Wonderful. Detective Martinez will be very grateful for your help, I’m sure.” He tapped his fingers nervously.

“First of all, I have to apologize, Lucas. I am sorry you had to see all of this. If I had suspected you were there, I would have been more careful.”

“How did you get out of the warehouse?” asked Lucas bluntly.

Henry winced. “That’s not exactly the easiest question to answer…”

That’s when Abe came in, holding a tray with hot drinks that he put down on the table. He exchanged a glance with Henry, who nodded back, and he left the room.

Henry turned to Lucas. “I died.”

Lucas, confused, settled into his seat. “You mean they thought you were dead?”

Henry shook his head. “No, I died. My heart stopped beating and my body… Disappeared.”

Lucas stayed silent for a moment. “How is that possible?”

Henry gave him a sad smile. “I have no idea. I have tried to find out for nearly two hundred years.”

“Two hundred years?!”

“Give me a minute.” Henry stood up and went to take a box of old pictures, which he put on the table. Then he took out his pocketwatch and stared at Lucas. “I’m going to explain everything, but for that, we need to start at the very beginning.”

The sun was starting to appear over the horizon when Lucas finally exhausted all his questions about Henry’s life. On the table between Lucas and Henry, an empty teapot and dozens of scattered photographs bore witness of the night they had spent.

Lucas was still dazed by all he had heard. He knew it was a turning point; all because he was at the wrong place, at the right time. And Henry trusted him to keep his secret.

“Why did you tell me everything? You could have lied.”

Henry stayed thoughtful for a moment. “It has weighed me down for way too long. I had no one besides Abe to talk to, and I needed to open up to somebody I could trust…” Henry smiled. “And I know you read enough graphic novels to believe my story.” The comment made Lucas laugh. “But I think we have talked about me for long enough,” Henry added. “Tell me, Lucas, how did you end up working for the OCME?”

Lucas smiled too.

“Well, doc… It’s a long story.”


End file.
